Steffy: Oil industry's tactics help to undermine its public image

Response to study linking quakes and fracking predictable

Updated 10:14 am, Wednesday, July 23, 2014

A new study has found a link between earthquakes in Oklahoma and underground wells used to dispose of waste­water from hydraulic fracturing.

The study, released in the journal Science, doesn't draw a direct connection between the quakes and fracking itself, and it found only a possible link between seismic activity and the injection of wastewater from drilling into underground reservoirs.

Sadly, the oil industry's response - question, deny, evade - has become all too typical. As the Houston Chronicle noted:

Industry leaders swiftly noted that the study does not definitively link earthquakes in Oklahoma with oil and gas drilling activity, in part because sub-surface pressure data that would be required to identify any unequivocal connection is rarely accessible. Still, the research adds to the body of evidence suggesting wastewater disposal can trigger some seismic activity, and it could heighten pressure on regulators to clamp down on the practice.

The oil industry could do itself a favor by, just once, engaging proactively in addressing the potential fallout from its practices.

It's fine to acknowledge the need for further study. Clearly, the research, by a team at Cornell University, does not establish a direct link between drilling activity and earthquakes.

But it also raises serious questions about how oil and gas producers deal with the byproducts of fracking. The industry ought to at least acknowledge that if the findings bear out, it will need to change its policies regarding wastewater disposal.

The lead researcher involved in the study already is calling for routine subsurface pressure monitoring in areas of wastewater disposal, as well as publicly available information on pumping volumes and pressures.

At the same time, regulators in Oklahoma, Texas and elsewhere have been studying possible links between seismic activity and the increased drilling that is driving a newfound abundance of fossil fuel production.

And, as I've noted before, the fracking boom has put the industry under much greater public scrutiny than it has received in the past.

Simply dismissing this research out of hand will once again lead to the familiar pattern. The industry will deny the links and refuse to embrace standards that might ease public concern.

Regulators, in turn, will propose new rules that the industry will oppose, and public distrust of the industry will continue to grow.

It would be nice to see the industry learning from past mistakes in how it's handled public concerns with fracking. It would be nice to see oil companies taking a proactive position by embracing transparency and working with regulators to develop solutions.

If, for example, the industry were to voluntarily provide the pressure monitoring data, all sides would be able to study the issue in more detail.

Already, some companies are looking at ways to recycle wastewater rather than pumping it back into the ground. That makes a lot of sense, especially in areas - such as South Texas - where water is increasingly scarce.

For far too long, the oil industry has relied on the cascading uncertainty rule - the idea that in a world of imperfect information, there's always room for doubt in scientific study.

It used the rule to exploit those doubts decades ago in dismissing public health concerns posed by lead in gasoline, and it continues to apply it today in regard to everything from climate change to the impact of fracking.

The public, though, isn't fooled. Oil companies' eagerness to embrace cascading uncertainty to protect short-term profits has encouraged lasting public skepticism about its practices. In other words, the industry's tactics are helping to undermine its public image.

Most Americans recognize that a supply of cheap and abundant energy comes with trade-offs.

But it's long past time for the industry to engage in candid studies of those trade-offs, rather than trying to hide behind a smokescreen of denial.

Steffy, former Houston Chronicle business columnist, is a senior writer with the communications firm 30 Point Strategies. He is a writer at large for Texas Monthly, a contributor to Forbes and author of the books "Drowning in Oil: BP and the Reckless Pursuit of Profit" and "The Man Who Thought Like a Ship."